The education sessions for the 2026 Annual Meeting will take place June 4, 5 and 7 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Education sessions are live activities.
Join your colleagues for programming on the topics that matter most to you. All times are Central.
CME sessions
New for A-26: Instead of claiming credit for each session, attendees only need to submit once for all attended sessions on the AMA Ed Hub™ site. Select the appropriate credit amount based on the sessions attended and answer the questions to receive the CME certificate. The maximum credit attendees can claim may be less than the total number of credits available due to overlapping sessions.
The AMA Ed Hub CME activity page will be live on June 3. The quiz will go live on June 6 at 9 a.m.
For information on accreditation, designation, disclosure, MOC statements and instructions on how to claim credit, download the CME and claim credit information PDF.
To claim CME visit the AMA Ed Hub™. Deadline to claim CME credit is July 31, 2026.
0.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Simplifying Life's Final Affairs Through Advance Directives (June 5)
0.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Preempted or Permissible? Understanding ERISA’s Reach After Rutledge (June 5)
1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Clinical Communication and Ethical Care for Patients With Undocumented or Uncertain Documentation Status (June 4)
- Navigating Tough Talks: Ethics and Communication in Health Care (June 4)
- Medical Staff Bylaws Unlocked: New Joint Commission Changes and Other Key Updates for Physicians in Hospitals (June 4)
- Fertility Preservation in Clinical Practice: Counseling Skills for At-Risk Adult Patients (June 5)
- Political Power: It’s Not Just for Politicians—Building Influence as a Physician Leader (June 5)
- Technology in Practice: Real-World Implementation Across Health Systems and Hospitals (June 5)
- Bravery Through Values: Advocacy in Times of Great Organization Risk (June 5)
- Not “Just Hormones”: Reframing and Rethinking Stigma Around Hormonally-Mediated Mood Conditions (June 5)
- Innovations in Dementia Care: Interdisciplinary Approaches and Clinical Management (June 5)
- Advocacy in Action: Leveraging Transparency Data to Improve Behavioral Health Care (June 7)
- AMA Center for Optimal Health Outcomes Update: Community Engagement, Policy, and Partnerships (June 7)
- The AMA and the World Medical Association: A Mutually Beneficial Partnership (June 7)
1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Prescribing Change: Pharmacy Strategy in Value-Based Care (June 5)
1.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Sustaining the Physician Workforce: Pathways to Re-Entry, Retention, and Well-Being (June 5)
- Barriers of Today: Medical Education Debt and the Future of a Diverse Physician Workforce (June 5)
Thursday, June 4
Noon–1 p.m.
Clinical Communication and Ethical Care for Patients With Undocumented or Uncertain Documentation
This session equips medical students with practical skills to provide safe, ethical and patient-centered care for patients with undocumented or uncertain documentation status. The session is grounded in clinical communication, confidentiality practices, and care coordination within healthcare systems. A multidisciplinary panel will review core topics relevant to clinical practice, including informed consent, trauma-informed communication, appropriate documentation, and maintaining patient confidentiality in complex care environments. Participants will learn to navigate these situations using clear communication, professional judgment and appropriate institutional resources.
Noon–1 p.m.
Navigating Tough Talks: Ethics and Communication in Health Care
This interactive session blends reflective ethical discussions with hands-on training for challenging clinical conversations. Through rotating small-group and one-on-one dialogues, students will explore real-life scenarios using the principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Prompts range from everyday dilemmas to profound questions about calling and sacrifice, promoting diverse perspectives and peer connection. Participants will also observe simulated patient encounters tackling emotionally charged topics—such as delivering difficult news, managing mental health crises, and addressing end-of-life care—followed by guided debriefs focused on communication strategies and coping skills. This session equips future physicians with the confidence, empathy and ethical awareness needed for the toughest conversations in medicine.
3:30–4:30 p.m.
Medical Staff Bylaws Unlocked: New Joint Commission Changes and Other Key Updates for Physicians in Hospitals
This session equips physicians practicing in hospitals, regardless of their employment situation or healthcare environment, with essential knowledge to upgrade their medical staff bylaws. Participants will learn to recognize the key elements of bylaws promoting physician autonomy across diverse practice settings. The session will then explain the latest developments, including recent updates to Joint Commission standards, to acquaint early career and senior physicians with regulatory requirements and support physician leaders with current best practices. Finally, attendees will apply this knowledge to real-world scenarios, enhancing their professional effectiveness and maintaining compliance in a rapidly evolving health care landscape.
Friday, June 5
9:15–10:30 a.m.
Prescribing Change: Pharmacy Strategy in Value-Based Care
As health systems contend with rising drug costs and pressures on reimbursement, managing pharmacy spending has become a challenge for organizations delivering value-based care. This session will examine how health systems are shifting beyond traditional formulary management toward proactive strategies for cost control.
10:30 a.m.–Noon
Sustaining the Physician Workforce: Pathways to Re-Entry, Retention, and Well-Being
This session examines physician wellness through the lens of career sustainability, with focused attention on return to practice after time away. Participants will explore the drivers of physician distress, the structural and regulatory barriers that affect re-entry, and the organizational supports that promote successful reintegration. Attendees will leave prepared to apply practical, evidence-informed strategies that strengthen return to practice pathways, improve retention, and advance physician well-being across the professional lifecycle.
Noon–1:00 p.m.
Fertility Preservation in Clinical Practice: Counseling Skills for At-Risk Adult Patients
Despite increasing recognition of the importance of fertility preservation, most medical students receive limited practical training in how to counsel patients effectively. This session addresses gaps through a structured, clinically-grounded approach focused on adult patients at risk of infertility, including LGBTQ+ individuals and those undergoing gonadotoxic therapies. By emphasizing inclusive communication, the session equips learners with concrete skills to support timely, patient-centered, and equitable access to fertility preservation.
Noon–1:00 p.m.
Political Power: It’s Not Just for Politicians—Building Influence as a Physician Leader
This session will challenge the idea that power in medicine belongs only to those with formal titles, showing that true power lies in the ability of physicians to influence outcomes through strategic use of resources. Attendees will learn a practical framework for understanding, using and distinguishing power from leadership to help people work together toward shared goals.
12:30–1:30 p.m.
Technology in Practice: Real-World Implementation Across Health Systems and Hospitals
This 60-minute educational session features short presentations from Integrated Physician Practice Section (IPPS) and Organized Medical Staff Section (OMSS) physicians sharing real-world examples of how they are implementing new technologies across their health systems and hospitals. Topics include navigating institutional AI policy conflicts, using AI for data analysis and clinical communication, managing AI agents as a digital workforce, and structured approaches to testing and scaling emerging technologies.
1:30–3:00 p.m.
Barriers of Today: Medical Education Debt and the Future of a Diverse Physician Workforce
This session will explore how increasing medical education debt and limited access to capital affects pre-med and medical students, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, shaping their opportunities and futures within medicine. This expert panel will share personal stories, discuss broader policy issues, and explore how financial barriers influence physician diversity and healthcare outcomes. Attendees will gain practical strategies to help create a more inclusive physician workforce.
1:45–2:30 p.m.
Preempted or Permissible? Understanding ERISA’s Reach After Rutledge
This session features a review of ERISA preemption and its implications for state healthcare regulation, with an emphasis on recent federal court decisions. Participants will examine Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association and subsequent rulings addressing pharmacy benefit managers, provider networks, and plan administration. The session will introduce a practical framework for evaluating when state laws are likely to be preempted, with relevance to physician payment, coverage, and practice operations.
2–3 p.m.
Bravery Through Values: Advocacy in Times of Great Organization Risk
The healthcare industry is facing unprecedented challenges. Physician leaders must navigate the complexities of physician shortages, financial constraints, growing patient needs, and other pressing medical issues, while advocating for their teams to mitigate risks, misinformation, and regulatory shifts. This session will discuss how healthcare organizations evaluate risk, determine when necessary risks must be taken despite government pressure, and strategies for leveraging social media to promote organizational priorities.
2–3 p.m.
Not “Just Hormones”: Reframing and Rethinking Stigma Around Hormonally-Mediated Mood Conditions
This session explores how hormones affect moods throughout different stages of life. Attendees will learn about conditions like premenstrual dysphoric disorder, premenstrual syndrome, postpartum depression, and menopause-related mood changes. The program highlights ways to support mental well-being, discusses the impact of hormones on emotions, and offers practical strategies for understanding and managing these challenges.
2:30–3 p.m.
Simplifying Life's Final Affairs Through Advance Directives
Planning for the end of life is one of the most meaningful gifts individuals can give their families. A “healthy death” involves thoughtful preparation—organizing medical affairs in ways that provide clarity, reduce stress, and preserve dignity for both patients and loved ones. This session reviews practical steps to proactively prepare for the unexpected. Participants will explore how advance directives and coordinated medical planning can work together to minimize confusion, strengthen communication, and ease the burden on families. By encouraging early planning, clinicians can help senior patients create a clear and organized path forward that supports smoother transitions of care.
3:30–5 p.m.
Translating Clinical Evidence Into Practice: Standards of Care in Emerging-Evidence Settings
Clinicians often make decisions in areas where evidence is incomplete or evolving. In these settings, the standard of care is not defined by perfect data, but by a combination of the best available evidence, clinical expertise, professional guidance, and patient values. This session examines how to responsibly apply standards of care under uncertainty while maintaining ethical integrity and patient trust.
4–5 p.m.
Innovations in Dementia Care: Interdisciplinary Approaches and Clinical Management
A dementia diagnosis changes not only the trajectory of the patient’s life, but also the lives of their caregivers. However, innovations in the detection and management of dementia can improve the quality of life for both. This program explores advances in dementia care, with an emphasis on early detection, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and practical management across all stages of care. Attendees will review practical, holistic solutions—such as environmental adjustments, behavioral techniques, and rehabilitation methods—and structured support for caregivers to promote safety, independence, and quality of life for patients and reduce caregiver burden.
Sunday, June 7
9:45–10:45 a.m.
Advocacy in Action: Leveraging Transparency Data to Improve Behavioral Health Care
Building on the AMA’s longstanding commitment to improving equitable access to behavioral healthcare, this educational session will explore how increased transparency, standardized insurer reporting, and cross-sector collaboration can meaningfully strengthen behavioral health access nationwide.
Panelists will discuss real-world examples, explore the policy and regulatory landscape, and examine how greater transparency—from Transparency in Coverage data to parity reporting (including leveraging the new nationally expanded Mental Health Parity Index developed in partnership between the AMA and The Kennedy Forum)—can help reduce administrative burdens, promote competition, strengthen oversight, and ultimately improve timely, equitable behavioral health access nationwide by ensuring state legislators and regulators can take action to support individuals with MH/SUD needs.
The panel will also explore opportunities for how physicians can file internal appeals with a commercial health plan on reimbursement rates or a mental health/SUD coverage determination, along with appeals to their state regulator for the same reasons (with additional support available on-site immediately after the session for attendees who would like assistance in initiating an appeal(s).
9:45–10:45 a.m.
Litigation Center A-26 Open Meeting
The increased involvement of private equity investors in medical practice threatens to prioritize profit and cost-cutting measures over patient safety and care quality. Litigation is underway in California to challenge the improper influence of private equity on physician practices. In this session, attendees will hear directly from physicians and attorneys about litigation trends, including challenges to improper influence of private equity on physician practices in California.
11 a.m.–Noon
AMA Center for Optimal Health Outcomes Update: Community Engagement, Policy, and Partnerships
This session will present the AMA's new Center for Optimal Health Outcomes (COHO), outlining its strategic direction and providing updates on core initiatives. This session will showcase how COHO is leveraging its partnerships with health systems, national and state medical associations, academic medical centers, and coalitions to advance digital health solutions and develop scalable policies from evidence-based research, with the goal of achieving optimal health for all communities.
11 a.m.–Noon
How Precision Education is Transforming Lifelong Learning for Physicians
The AMA launched the Transforming Lifelong Learning Through Precision Education grant program in 2025 and is investing $12 million over the next four years into 11 grant projects that will develop precision education systems across the continuum of medical education. Precision education leverages data and technology to make medical education more personalized and relevant to one’s practice. This session will provide an overview of the 11 funded grant projects and explore the benefits of the AMA’s investment to medical students, residents, fellows, practicing physicians, and patients.
11 a.m.–Noon
The AMA and the World Medical Association: A Mutually Beneficial Partnership
This session will provide AMA members and participants with a comprehensive overview of the World Medical Association (WMA), including its history, organizational structure, leadership, and the strategic role of the AMA delegation to the WMA. Attendees will examine the WMA’s global priorities and learn how the AMA, as a WMA founding member, collaborates with the WMA to advance shared health initiatives worldwide. The session will also offer practical guidance for AMA members on how to access information and actively contribute to AMA efforts within the WMA. Participants will strengthen their knowledge of international medical advocacy and enhance their capacity for professional involvement in global health policy.
